One for the crown
by stainedheart
Summary: It's hard to be a woman in a man's world. Divas centric.
1. Chapter 1

My first fic here and also my first fic _ever _in English, yaaaay! Did this because I'm a big Divas fan and because I think this fandom lacks centrics and Divas' fics. Sorry for any huge grammar mistakes and enjoy :)

* * *

**One for the crown**

**Layla**

When her music started to play her heart skipped one beat, because finally after one year she was coming back. Michelle wasn't there and she was feeling awkward going to the ring by herself after so many time with her friend, but Layla was so, _so _happy to be back. Her knee wasn't _that _great but no one needed to know, it was a simple match against Nikki Bella, it wasn't a problem. The crowd wasn't chanting for her ("We want Kharma!" could be heard echoing through the building) but Layla understood their reasons. She came back to be a champion, and with less than six minutes the butterfly belt was hers.

Fast-forward four months and she is sitting in her hotel room doing nothing, her shining belt by her side, looking like a plastic toy. Her schedule for the next day includes a lot of things, none of them wrestling. They don't have enough time for her with all those stupid recaps and social media plugs. They would request her to smile and talk to her followers on Twitter and that ridiculous Tout thing like everything was fine, but wasn't, because she was the champion and was nowhere to see.

_Maybe I should do like Punk, _she thought, _but I'm not worth like him. Not even close to that._

So she turned her phone on, ready to tout something to her fans.

* * *

**Eve**

Eve looked at the mirror, fixing her dress. Her makeup was perfect and her hair was nice and she was absolutely gorgeous, but Eve Torres couldn't smile. She _had _to, all the kids wanted to see a smiling Diva and Eve wouldn't let them down, but she wasn't feeling anything near happiness. She read her speech again, making sure to not forget the important parts, to give necessary emphases in necessary words and to don't mess it at all.

She sit next to Sheamus, both waiting their turn to speak, pretending they were paying attention to what Stephanie McMahon was saying. Someone turned a camera on and for a minute the light sparkled in Sheamus' belt, the gold reflecting it and hurting her eyes, forcing Eve to turn away. His belt was so bright and big and it had his name in it, unlike the Divas' belt, a pink atrocity Eve never liked. Stephanie finished her turn, calling Eve to be the next. She got up, smiling to the kids while going to the microphone. After introducing herself and talking about the importance of talking with their parents about bullying she asked:

"How many of you have been bullied?"

The kids raised their hands, but Eve wasn't seeing them, she was seeing herself, years ago, sitting in front of John Laurinites.

"_Have you ever done porn?" He didn't even bother to look at her._

"_Do I look like some porn actress?" Eve asked in complete disbelief. _

"_Default question"_

_"Of course not!"_

_And for one second she swore to see disappointment in his eyes._

"Just remember kids: Bullying is wrong, and no one has to go through this alone" She said, finishing her turn. _Unless if you are a WWE Diva, _Eve thinks while going back to her chair.

* * *

**Natalya**

TJ says is just a phase, PG-TV and shit like that, kids love farting jokes, don't they? He says at least she has some TV time on major shows, unlike him who is relegated to Superstars and NXT. Bret says is typical from Vince McMahon, making funny of the family. Beth doesn't say anything at all.

Natalya is trying hard, _really _hard to go through that, but is difficult when you know have talent and all they give you is ridiculous segments in which you'll be a joke. Santino talks to her after recording their backstage segment, saying he doesn't agree with the treatment she is receiving and he wishes he could stay away from the mess, but guess what? He is also a joke. Natalya can't help but feel sorry for both of them.

When she loses another match Natalya wants to cry, but is not a Hart behavior to cry for foolish things, so she just hugs Gismo so tight the poor cat meows and tries to break the contact, but she is not feeling like letting it go. Eventually TJ comes in rescue, making Natalya hug him instead, so Gizmo can breathe.

One day while going out of a gym, thinking about her match for the night a girl approaches her. She must be 15 and is very shy, but her words are clear when she says "You are my inspiration", smiling when Natalya hugs her, again feeling the urge to cry her eyes out.

_There is still hope, _she thinks, _if I can inspire people there is still hope._

* * *

**Kelly**

Her maxillary is hurting form all that smiling, but everybody says this is the only thing she is good at: Smile and look pretty, so she keeps smiling bright while signing her name for the fans. Some are nice, they ask for a picture and she obviously smile to that. Some ask for a hug and that feels good, she can feel their love and hopes they can feel her too. Some tell she is pretty and the elders tell her she is hot, to which she smiles shyly, trying to sign as fast as she can. But that are only the guys.

The girls are the worst and Kelly tries to smile brighter to them. Their eyes are always judging and their smiles are all fake, even _she _can see that. One or two are nice and ask for pictures, tell how pretty she is, but Kelly can see they are just forcing themselves to play cool and don't freak out in front of their favorite superstar. Kelly is not a favorite.

On the contrary, she is the girl everyone loves to hate. They think she is dumb and they are glad when she is away from the ring, but is not her fault. In the beginning, when she was young and naïve she thought it was, but now she is smart enough to know it is nobody's fault but the ones in charge of things, that's why she keeps smiling even when she sees hate.

They can't blame her, and while her conscience stays clean she'll have a reason to smile.

* * *

**AJ**

There is an "I dig crazy chicks" sign in the crowd (in the first row!) and this makes her giggle, no one had ever taken signs about her to the main shows and she has no clue on what to do with all the popularity. She can't even go to a regular store without people calling her name, which she finds cute. When she goes skipping in the middle of the match the guy holding the sign tries to show it to her, but AJ can't stop to take pictures because now she is in her crazy persona, so she blinks to him, hoping he saw it.

She can feel it. The hate. They pretend to be happy for her and they smile at her every time she passes through them, but it doesn't matter, it's all fake. _What an irony, _she thinks after trying to smile at Beth and Natalya when they meet at the lock room, _my mom always told me everything in WWE was fake and I never believed her. _It's not their fault, AJ thinks, nor is hers. She wants to cry and beg them for forgiveness, ask them to accept her even though she hasn't done anything wrong, just her job. _It's not my fault _she keeps repeating to herself like a mantra _It's not my fault, it's not my fault, it's not my fault._

And yet when Eve refuses to sit with her in the plane she thinks everything is her fault.

There are a lot of "crazy chick" signs in the crowd and this makes her sick. AJ's suit is too tight and she wishes she could use her chucks; her contacts are making her eyes a little dry and itch and she wishes she could use her glasses. She wishes she could be herself in the ring again. Someone comes in and says she needs to be ready to enter the arena in three minutes, making AJ tremble and sweat a little; she always get a little stage-frightened before a show. Punk is waiting his turn to enter next to the curtain and he smiles to her, his smile making AJ feel a little better. When she hears her music there is no coming back, she sighs and starts to skip to the ring.

_The show must go on _was the first lesson she learned, anyway.

* * *

**Stephanie**

After three discussions, two reunions with her husband's people and five phone calls she is ready to go to the Raw 1000 arena. It will be her first time appearing live after a couple of years and Stephanie can't decide if she is anxious or not. It won't be a big deal go down the ramp and beat Pau Heyman, but in reality nothing is a big deal to Stephanie McMahon, _she _is the big deal, daddy's little girl and heir to the throne. Yet while she is getting her hair and makeup done she can't stop thinking about her past, when she was a current wrestler (as she would dare to say that about herself) and got involved in some pretty nice things like marriages in Vegas and seeing her father beating his employees.

While waiting for their time she keeps a distance from the others. She isn't one of them anymore, she is one of their bosses and they must respect her. She can hear the whispers but pretend to not care, because they can talk whatever they want, it won't change the fact that she is the next McMahon in charge, the most powerful woman in charge. Her father is too busy making sure everything is happening like foreseen and Hunter is too busy making sure everyone worships him like the god he thinks he is.

(No one is busy like her, who is making sure to play her role of spoiled girl all her life)

After their segment Stephanie smiles a little, knowing she did her job to perfection, like always (and everyone knows a McMahon can't do wrong in the WWE) and walks backstage talking with some of the legends. Even she has to pay respect to them; no one gets to be called a legend for nothing in this business. Her father was happy with her participation on the show and Hunter's hair is a mess, but he is still talking with the DX members like all of them were children.

Some of the new guys talk with her and the Divas stay away, but there aren't a lot of them there anyway, which leaves Stephanie thinking about the days she would fight against Trish and Lita for the Women's championship and use her name (and husband) to win. Those were the days, she thinks while waiting for the after party, where her father cared about women; but maybe was just to please her, to give his daughter something to do with her time; maybe they could do something about the lack of females on the company. Someone from the crew calls her and she brushes these silly thoughts away, focusing on her real problems. They don't need more women on WWE, as long as Stephanie McMahon stays there, and she will always be there.

In the end only one can use the crown.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **So, due to a huge demand (okay, it wasnt _that _huge) I decided to write this additional chapter with the divas I let out of the first. It also includes Lita and Trish because... Because I love them and they deserve to be in every divas fic. I tried my best to do something good with their POV and hope you guys like it.

Thanks to everyone who sent a review, added the fic (and this author) to the favorites or just read. I loved your comments 3

Once again sorry for any grammar mistakes, I'm doing my best to improve as an English writer.

Just one last thing: Can someone recognize the quote on Trish's part?

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**Beth**

"You know, I watched TNA the other day" her brother said, pausing for a moment, expecting a reaction, but Beth already knew what was coming next "And their woman are pretty good, you should…"

"No" She interrupted, her eyes focused on her meal, trying to ignore his judging face "I'm not leaving WWE and you know it"

"Look Beth, if it is because of that moron-"

"It isn't!" Beth shouted "It's just…" He could think it was because of Punk, because of Edge or because of both, but none of them were her reason. She never did things thinking about a man.

"You like to job to that blond girl, I understand."

She sighed, this kind of conversation never ended well.

"She is a sweetie, it is not her fault" Beth started to play with her food, everything was better than look into her brother's eyes "Maybe I'm just a company woman"

"Yeah, whatever"

Her brother left the kitchen, his meal also untouched. They would always have conversations like that, in which her brother would ask her to leave, plea for her to go somewhere else, rub her defeats in her face, say how she would be better used in TNA and she knew he was right. However she would just stay focused in another thing, never looking to him, never explaining herself, and never telling him the truth.

And the truth was she just _couldn't _leave, she couldn't let Nat behind and she couldn't let all the others behind as well. She knew none of them would get a real chance to shine; none of them would be the second Trish or Lita, none of them would go to stardom. They would always be the bathroom break. Punk once said they needed to do like him, to go to Vince's office and yell, to make them be heard, but who was he kidding? He was CM Punk, a star, a (anti) hero and they were… Women. One couldn't simply walk in the streets and expect to find another CM Punk, but finding pretty girls was the easiest thing to do. (Especially if you look in swimsuit catalogs).

Beth could count all the times they said she wasn't worth enough; she should give up because that was a man's world. She laughed to those kinds of comments, saying a man's world couldn't even exist without woman and no one had the right to say a word about her worthy as a wrestler. Beth thought about all the training and pain (both physical and mental) she went through; all the tears and sleepiness nights in which she spent by herself, not knowing what to do with her life.

She loved her younger brother, but that was something he would never understand, he didn't belong to that world. He didn't understand the loneliness and sadness and hopes and dreams being crashed because wrong words and discussions behind closed doors and friendships and nights in bars. He didn't understand all the locker room drama and the cat fights and teary apologizes and lots of women just having each other to trust. That's why she couldn't leave, because she didn't have anyone else to trust, to truly understand and care about. They were her road family and friends and all those girls meant something to her. _All of them._

* * *

**Kaitlyn**

If someone asked Kaitlyn what she wanted she would answer "to be the Divas Champion". The day she won NXT were surely the happiest in her life and she couldn't remember it right, everything was a mess in her head, her tears and happiness and the hugs she shared with her friends. She should know that something was wrong when she couldn't remember every detail about it, but Kaitlyn was in such a fuzzy to care about it.

They promised her a title shot that never came. They promised her a lot of things, but everything she got were bruises in her body and heart. She left everything in order to chase her dream and yet no one cared. They made her a winner only to cast her aside short after, telling her to be patient. And she was. She waited and waited and waited and nothing came. AJ got the spotlight instead of her. AJ wasn't the winner, _she _was.

And her chance came. Two years later, but she got her chance to prove herself. Her title shot, her time to shine. Kaitlyn could feel the electricity running through her body when her music hit and she was announced the number one contender. People didn't care so much, but she cared, she cared a lot. Her hype lasted one week, when everybody started to talk her victory was a botch, she wasn't ready, she wasn't worth, and Eve was so much better and should probably be the next champion because of her exposure on the media due a reality show. Everything seemed to be more important and everyone seemed to be more talented than Kaitlyn was.

She remembered during the training everybody told her to be prepared for the opinions, to be strong and face the hate, to be brave and stand still while the public was judging her; however Kaitlyn could feel herself falling to pieces when people didn't care, when they said so and so were more deserving of a title, how they were pathetic compared to Attitude Era divas. The physical part was so easy contrasted to the entire mental breakdown they had to go in order to be in front of cameras.

Nobody said it would be easy and Kaitlyn understood that, training herself to become stronger and handle everything. Every time she looked in the mirror she would picture herself as champion, with the belt shining around her waist, the chants and love. Kaitlyn promised herself to not waste that opportunity, to hold onto it and make the best she could. She promised to make people care again, and she was willing to do everything for that.

* * *

**Lita**

They didn't scream. They _always _screamed in her time. Face, heel, it never mattered, when her music hit the arena they would scream, show their signs and ask her for _anything_ she wanted to give them. And that night they didn't. Most of them didn't know her, the kids weren't even born when Lita was already a sensation in WWE, but their fathers knew her, and yet they didn't react to her. She went to the ring, played her part, pinned the guy and went backstage, getting no response.

Lita could recall those glorious days in which she and Edge would get booed and she would win championships. She could recall her private life exposed to those people's delight, all judging her without knowing anything. And Edge was furious on their hotel room, but at the arena he would just smile and say _"The important is getting them to react. Any reaction is better than none"_

_Any reaction is better than none._

The words echoed in her head all night, the little reaction getting under her skin and making her sick. Lita was a proud woman, her pride always getting the best of her; and nothing would make Lita more proud than hear the cheers of the crowds, their love (or hate). Getting nothing was the worst thing that could happen to her.

Punk always asked why she couldn't come back, she was still young, had health enough and they would love her to return. She always just shook her head, saying that she would never come back to compete, her time had already passed and that night just confirmed that. She belonged to past, to a time when women were respected and appreciated as competitors, as wrestlers (or she wanted to believe they were). Lita was another relic of a time would never come back and she pitted those new girls, believing so much in something would never happen.

_Any reaction is better than none._

Obvious one day she was like them, believing she could change the world with her talent and red hair, and all she got back were scars, tears and a sex segment in live TV. Her belief died little by little at every joke and every obstacle. Lita envied Trish, who suffered so much and still had that blind faith in a better future. She didn't have that; they stole her faith and let her cynical smile to all the new generation so-called divas.

_Any reaction is better than none._

She wanted to teach them that lesson, but something told her they learned it the hard way.

* * *

**Trish**

Her and Amy finished recording a video for WWE, both saying how happy they were about the 1000th episode and how they wished the Divas to speak up more about their role in the company. Trish's real wish was to say how ridiculous that was, how ridiculous all of them were and how she wanted to punch every man in the face for thinking they were only eye-candy. Instead she smiled and waved and gave advices for the girls who asked.

She could remember the time she was the number one, the female face of the company, their queen. But she could also remember how much she had to suffer in order to get her spot. All the humiliations, the jokes, the bras and panties matches, the barking, the sexism. She remembered every face mocking at her, laughing at her for enter in a men's territory. And yet she won her battle, years had passed and people still remembered her as the great Trish Stratus, the best diva WWE ever had.

When she started Trish never expected to be so big, to build a reputation, but _they _made her wish to be a star. The men. They made her work harder and harder, they made her succeed. And now that she was retired she had to look at all those poor girls in the same situation she once was, all being mistreated and misused. All of them wanting to be the next Trish Stratus. She sighed, knowing their journey would be as difficult as hers.

Trish remembered a phrase from a book she was reading _"Queen you shall be, until there comes another, younger, more beautiful, to cast you down"._

She prayed for the next queen to come fast, the crown was already too heavy for her head.


End file.
